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Editorial:
Trust enough? From
the director: Icons of Culture and Political Identity: A Decade
of Opportunity Comment:
Shaking hands with soldiers At
the end of the day: Trust Remember
1916 Shattered
pieces - a journey in recovering trust Interview
with Rev John Dunlop & Danny Morrison: Truth & Trust Faith
matters lyo
nta kindi dufite uretse UKWIZERA A
Reader's Response to Lion&Lamb #40 Bible
Study: Trust Review:
Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries
of Belonging and Belief Review:
1916: Lest We Forget Difficult
Conversations |
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WHY ARE WE so mistrustful of ‘management’? Maybe experiences with poor managers have led to a belief that, “if that is management I don’t want anything to do with it”. Or is ‘management’ seen as a cross we must bear? This could be a situation of our own making if we fear ‘management’, and avoid essential activities or are under-equipped to address them adequately. Can I be a good leader if I am not a strong manager? Leadership is management with purpose. The two must be held together. I think there is a problem if a leader – the one who is responsible for catching the vision of a church or an organisation – separates themselves off, leaving others do the work of managing. The manager must promote the vision along with the appropriate structures that show how it can be achieved. Methods, as much as the goals themselves, need to be consistent with the vision. Many churches have goals, a vision or aim but have no clear idea how to get there. A ‘manager’ may give the kind of direction that is necessary. We need to set ourselves clear targets and expectations because how do you cope with a task that is endless? The answer is: you don’t. It’s a familiar scenario: the bottomless pit of human need and unlimited demands on our time. My work would be complete when there are no homeless people left and no more parents need educated in parenting their children. I cannot possibly hope to meet that need, but I can do what I can for the individual before me and that will make a difference to them. In seeking to do the best in every context there is no sense in disregarding systems or techniques – or the latest gadgets – as long as they are employed having asked and fully answered the question ‘why?’ With the best systems you will achieve results. However, people cannot be separated from processes. We must challenge the notion –wherever it arises – that management is all about implementing dehumanising, impersonal systems and procedures. Part of a manager’s role is to see people fulfil their potential, ensuring that a person is the best person for this work and that they are as committed and as informed as they possibly can be. The structures and methods of management can enable and equip people to become the people God wants them to be in the places in which God has called them to serve. These structures also offer vital protection to those within the system who are vulnerable to abuse or neglect. How do we combat fear in this fearful society? We need to strengthen people to deal with fear themselves. A leader has authority and power but can also choose to give others something of that power, and there is a responsibility but also accountability in that. This is a model of empowerment and enabling. In the case of church leaders, if you accept the fact that a minister cannot be all things to all people and has to pull together a team of people working in different areas, then he or she needs to have management skills and an ability to truly empower people. Empowerment occurs when a person is enabled to take control of as many aspects of their life as possible. I don’t think people are really empowered in a church context. In order to empower people we must be inclusive and involve people in a meaningful way. People need to be treated with respect and be supported in their own identity. They need to be provided with opportunities to make choices wherever possible, and be shown that they are valued. Empowering people has a reciprocated benefit in that it demands responsibility and accountability from the person who is empowered, and given the choice and opportunity to really make a difference where they are. This can be risky, but management must have the confidence to take risks. And if something does not work out then we must be honest and able to say to one another “you have not done well” or “you have let me down” – and we must be prepared to start again. I work for a church, managing the running of a centre providing statutory services for vulnerable families. I manage and train managers, I lead people and employ processes in order to achieve goals. I am a round peg in a round hole: I believe the skills I have fit exactly into the needs of the organisation I serve and I am working to the vision God has given me. To me, leadership and management go hand in hand and splitting them creates an unhelpful dichotomy. In my context I offer a vision of managing well and ask to be held accountable to that vision in the goals it serves and the practices which are employed. And maybe my particular leadership style tends to lend itself to such a vision. For me it is totally natural to put leadership and management together and it feels unnatural to separate them. GERRY RANKIN is Centre Manager of the Salvation Army Thorndale Family Centre in North Belfast. |
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